It's been hot as hell here in the Midwest for most of the summer; blistering death! Riding bikes around here as of late could be easily compares to riding in a wind tunnel turned up to hairdryer temps and just cooking your innards along the way. Last night The Manimal and I kicked back up the Thursday Night Ride.
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| It's that time of year - Spiders (this one the size of a golf ball) are out in full force, their webs spanning the trail seemingly always at face height. |
This is the same old ride we do all winter but we spice it up and change the course each time out. Last night was no different. We headed out from Pirate headquarters at the stroke of 9ish. The wind was feeling cool and we were psyched to lubricate our legs in preparation for the Spoke Pony Showdown 6 hours of torture we are to endure on Saturday at Swope.
We set a casual pace, one that might make you think we had whiskey in our water bottles, yet moving good enough to elude the mysterious mountain lion (our imaginary friend that summons the fear and adrenaline required to really sprint when needed). We hit some sweet rogue trail, and every time we ride this particular stretch we think 'man, I love this trail'. We hit some overgrown deer trail that had a bunch of fallen trees that we nimbly maneuver over like cats. We hit some gravel double track for just long enough to prep for the steep ass climb that neither of us successfully rode. We hit-up miles of dusty single track; mostly flowing but often broken-up by a rock garden or improbable switchback. We rally back to the pirates lair and push hard up the Lawrence hill - always a nice yet feared end to a great ride.
To beat the heat, Thursday Night Rides are officially back in season. As the snow comes we will be switching over to fixed-gear mountain bikes and following rides with hot tubbin' and campfire action, and of course a few Barley Pops tossed in for good measure.
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